The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). Vector of West Nile Virus, dengue fever, St. Louis encephalitis and Chikungunya. Native to tropical and subtropical regions of Southeast Asia. Now well-established in Europe and the Americas. Photo credit: James Gathany/ID1862/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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It is believed that the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. From out of its cataclysmic beginnings, the Earth had emerged as the only known living planet in our galaxy. No one really knows the exact sequence of events that had shaped the Earth into what it is today. But over the millennia, as it revolved and hurtled across the infinite reaches of space, it is evident that the Earth has gone through cycles of warming and cooling. Ice ages have advanced and retreated and species have teetered through evolution and extinction.

The cyclic nature of the Earth's geologic history is one of the main arguments against the theory of anthropogenic (man-made) global warming, which blames human activities for the current steady rise in theplanet' s average global temperature---arguably brought about by the excessive production of greenhouse gasesfrom massive industrial and commercial exploitation of coal, oil and natural gas.

It appears that the timeline of man's extensive use of fossil fuels has temporally coincided with a measurable and significant increase in global atmospheric CO2 levels over a span of only a couple of centuries.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were estimated at 280parts per million.

Currently, it's at 398 parts per million.

Although there are strong physical and measurable evidence pointing to the reality of global warming, the issue

continues to divide the scientific community. In the meantime, atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise at an alarmingrate.

The signs of change are apparent: retreating glaciers, species being driven to extinction, global spread of insect

Massive thawing of permafrost causing further release of colossal amounts of terrestrial greenhouse gases, further intensifying the warming

Further retreat of glaciers and sea ice

More extreme weather patterns

Droughts

Heat waves

Hurricanes

Species extinction

Spread of water-borne and vector-borne diseases (such as malaria, dengue, encephalitis, cholera and

typhoid)

War and human conflict as extreme weather conditions cause food crisis and shortage of other basic human necessities

Over the past century, the Earth's temperature has increased approximately 0.7 degree

Celsius (about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit).

Current projections predict that by the end of the century, if warming

continues at its current pace, the Earth could be up to 9 degrees Fahrenheitwarmer than it is today.

Scientists studying Antarctic ice cores predict that we should be heading for

another ice age in the next 15,000 years --- too far off into the future inhuman time scale, but just around the corner in geologic time. However, thesame scientists believe that it is possible that because of the colossal amountsof greenhouse gases that have already been pumped and continue to bepumped into the atmosphere, the next ice age may not actually arrive aspredicted.

This could be a source of celebration and inspiration for climate change

skeptics to keep the coal burning. After all, who would want to freeze in anice age?

But the alternative scenario is likewise grim. Who would want to fry in a

heat wave?

The arguments for and against global warming is explored in greater detail